Quoting from BetaNews:
Sun Microsystems has curbed its ambitions for its N1 grid utility computing initiative and reversed course in its intentions to support heterogeneous computing platforms, instead focusing first on its own hardware.
The primary N1 vision was a network-centric philosophy that views the network as a resource that make computing more flexible, adaptive and easily connected; managing the datacenter as if it were a single system using virtualization and data automation; managing policy; as well as provide load balancing and other autonomic technologies.
N1 was also designed to manage and coordinate the provisioning of new hardware and software.
However, making this entire vision a reality would have required Sun to support a wide breadth of hardware and platforms. Sun will now shift its focus to making N1 work with its own products.
As first reported by eWeek, John Loiacono, Sun’s executive vice president for software has confirmed suspicions that Sun will drastically alter its plans for N1 implementation in the coming months when a new version of the framework is publicly released.
According to the report, Sun will take a different approach to how N1 provisions multi platform services that is both simplified and more realistic. Sun says that its work in utility computing and with grid computing technologies is the basis of its changed vision.
Loiacono said Sun will begin to push a project known as the Customer Network Systems group (CNS) that will make each component of Sun’s product portfolio from servers, to the operating system to its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) able to “connect back to Sun.”
Sun will then be able to provision and patch products and share service information if the customer opts in.
Sun was not immediately available for comment.